1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to an electrical connector with board locks for positioning the connector on a circuit board.
2. Description of Related Art
There are numerous ways of securing an electrical connector to a circuit board. For example, the connector may be provided with mounting flanges having bores therethrough for accepting threaded mounting bolts that extend through corresponding through holes of the circuit board and are secured by nuts or the like. In many instances, however, it is more desirable to have a board mounting device or board lock that does not require mounting flanges on the connector or the use of tools. In addition, it is desirable to minimize the space on the circuit board such that the board locks for the connector are secured within an insulating housing of the connector.
The board lock secured within the housing typically has a pair of spaced legs with outward barbs. When the board lock is inserted into the through hole of the circuit board, the spaced legs are first compressed to deflect inwardly toward each other and then restore to their original configuration, whereby the barbs latch beneath a bottom face of the circuit board to secure the connector on the circuit board. The design of this board lock cannot accommodate tolerance variations in the thickness of the circuit board since the barbs of the board lock exactly engage with the bottom face of the circuit board.
Other board locks have compliant portions that can be compressed upon insertion of the board lock into the through hole of the circuit board and then resile outwardly to engage surfaces within the through hole. When using the board locks that engage inner surfaces of the through hole, it is desirable to have a high enough retention force to hold the connector on the circuit board. The board lock with a high retention force typically requires a high insertion force, which results in the risk of pushing out the board lock from the housing during the insertion of the board lock into the through hole of the circuit board. As a result, the connector is unreliably positioned on the circuit board and an electrical connection between the connector and the circuit board is adversely affected. U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,122 having the same applicant and the same assignee with the invention, discloses the board lock used with a length-reduced connector. Anyhow, the retention between the housing and the board lock is still desired to be improved.
Hence, an electrical connector with improved board locks is required to overcome the disadvantages of the related art.
Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector with board locks which can make the electrical connector stably mounted on a circuit board, thereby ensuring a reliable electrical connection therebetween.
A second object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector with board locks securely retained in an insulating housing thereof for preventing the board locks from being pushed out from the housing during the insertion of the board locks into through holes of a circuit board.
In order to achieve the objects set forth, an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulating housing, a plurality of terminals retained in the housing and a pair of board locks secured on the housing. The housing defines a pair of receiving spaces at opposite ends thereof and a pair of slots communicating with the receiving spaces. Each board lock comprises a body portion received in the receiving space of the housing, a compliant portion extending from the body portion for being received in a corresponding through hole of a circuit substrate and a beam portion extending from the body portion opposite to the compliant portion. The beam portions are received in the slots of the housing for preventing the board locks from being pushed out from the housing during the insertion of the board locks into the through holes of the circuit substrate.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.